Obligated
by Schizzar
Summary: Plato has been requested by Old D. to bring Victoria into adulthood. Having no choice but to accept, he decides to befriend the white cat. Basically a story about Plato's life with no definite pairings; he'll be with several different cats.
1. Chapter 1

**First off, an explanation. If you know me and what I write, you're probably like: What? A musical? She's writing a fanfiction for a musical? Huh? **

**Yeah…I didn't think it would happen either. But the thing is, I've been a big fan of the Musical Cats since I was really small and I found it in my closet of videos and re watched it, therefore reawakening my love for it. I discovered a lot of things about it I didn't understand when I was little. ****(Cough) Some of you know what I mean. **

**But for those who only read my anime/manga fanfictions, rest assured I am not abandoning those. I have no idea where this is going to be honest. I might end up abandoning it half way through, who knows? **

**But for those who are still here and plan on reading this, there will be many random pairings and I have no idea who Plato will end up with in the end. Plato is my favorite cat. :) So yeah, read on!**

Plato had always been very calm and reserved, almost the polar opposite of his brother Alonzo. Though they were kin, there appeared to be nothing between them at all, their markings and personalities so different that Plato was often assumed to be part of the litter with Coricopat and Tantomile. He went largely unnoticed by the rest of the tribe, not that he minded very much, but it was starting to get tiring.

(INSERT BREAK HERE)

"Hello, Plato," Munkustrap greeted. He was on his morning patrol, per usual, and was passing by the old pipe that Plato often lounged on in the morning.

"Good morning," Plato responded, nodding at him politely.

Unlike other mornings, Munkustrap stopped and sat in front of Plato, shifting uneasily as he tried to find the right words for what he wanted to say. Plato let him shift, not wanting to pressure the other tom into saying something he'd regret later. Finally, he spoke.

"You know Victoria, correct?"

"Yes," Plato answered. Who didn't know Victoria? She was easily the most beautiful of the older kittens and definitely the nicest, always looking out for the others. There didn't seem to be a flaw within her. She was also the daughter of Jellylorum and therefore well looked after.

"Well…Deuteronomy needs someone to bring her into adulthood at this coming Jellicle ball and-"

"Munku, no," Plato interrupted, calling the tom by his old nickname back when they had been kits. "Get Quaxo to do it, he's in love with her and she him."

"He's barely half-grown," Munku sighed, glancing away from Plato.

"Tugger?" Plato asked, desperate to find someone else.

"You know how Victoria is a fan of his, she'd be too nervous. We're only thinking of her welfare and you have a very calm disposition that seems to calm others down," Munku continued. "That's what Deuteronomy says."  
"So it's an order from him," Plato muttered. "Then I guess I can't object."

"That's not all," Munku said.

"What else is there?" Plato asked, getting frustrated despite his usually cool temper.

"Deuteronomy doesn't want this to be completely unfeeling, you know how he is about that," Munkustrap said. "So it would be best if you befriend her before the ball."

Plato held in a sigh, knowing it would reflect badly on him, and instead nodded. "Fine. I guess I'll get down to business than."

Munkustrap sighed. "I am really sorry Plato. I know you don't want to do this but you did such a good job with Cassandra last time-"

"Cassandra's a whore," Plato interrupted, eyes narrowed.

Munku tried not to smirk. "You shouldn't say such things."

"They're true," Plato said.

"I'll talk to you later, Plato," Munku said, giving him a small wave goodbye before continuing on his way.

Plato waited until he was out of sight before getting to his feet and stretching. He was definitely not looking forward to this.

(INSERT BREAK HERE)

"Well look who it is," crowed a voice.

Plato continued walking past the trunk of the red car, not sparing Bombalurina a single glance. She reminded him of Cassandra and she seemed to constantly be trying to get his attention; it must upset her that she could juggle all the other toms except for him and Coricopat. He knew Coricopat had his eyes on his sister and he…well…he didn't really care for any of the queens at all though he enjoyed Demeter's company. Too bad she had already mated with Munkustrap or he might've considered settling down.

"Hey, don't you are ignore me," Bombalurina scoffed, leaping down to block his path.

"Bombie!" Demeter objected from her place on the car.

"I am going somewhere," Plato sighed. "Move."

"Not before you have a conversation with me. You never pay attention at all to me," she said, a sultry pout on her lips.

"We're having a conversation right now. And now we're not," he growled, brushing her aside.

"You'll fall, Plato, just like everyone else," she sniffed.

_Right, right,_ he thought tiredly, making his way over to where he knew Victoria would be sunning with her friends, Jemima and Electra. They were sunning on a bare path of ground, far away from the others, insuring the privacy he wanted. He felt awkward enough socializing in front of people; if he could cut the number down of people who would be around, he would.

"Hello Plato!" Jemima said, perking right up and fixing him with a bright smile. "I haven't seen you out much."

"I haven't wanted to be," he said dryly, not caring that his words weren't exactly nice.

Jemima shrugged them off easily. "I'm sorry to hear that. I've missed seeing you around."

"If you don't want to be out, than why are you here?" Victoria asked, opening a single blue eye to look up at him. The words weren't cruel, just curious.

"I need to speak with you alone, Victoria. I apologize, Jemima, Electra," he said cordially.

"No problem at all," Electra said, her tone clearly saying otherwise but she stalked off before he had a chance to say something back to her.

Jemima gave him an apologetic look and slunk after the other kitten. With a heavy sigh, he sat down beside Victoria and flicked his tail back and forth, agitated. Victoria did not speak, preferring to keep her eyes close and rest, seeming to know that when he was ready, Plato would speak.

"Old Deuteronomy has requested something of me," he started.

"He wants you to bring me into adulthood, yes?" she asked, glancing up at him, finally getting to her feet and sitting properly.

"Yes," he answered, looking at her.

"So? It's a fact, there's no need to talk to me about it, I understand," she said with a shrug.

"I…don't want it to be uncomfortable for you. I don't want to be some stranger to you."

"You are a stranger to most people in the tribe, Plato. No one really knows you," Victoria commented.

"I'm sure we can convince Deuteronomy to let you have your own choice. I know that-"

"Plato," Victoria interrupted, gently placing her hands on his shoulders, wrapping him in a soft hug. "Don't worry. You know what you're doing; you brought Cassandra through."

"Cassandra's a whore. Oh I'm sorry!" The words were automatic now whenever someone mentioned his one time dance with Cassandra.

Victoria laughed. "Don't worry, Plato. If you want this to go smoothly just relax and be yourself. If that is your opinion of Cassandra, then I can't change that. I'll even go as far as to say…well never mind that."

Plato shot a look at her, casually pulling himself out of her embrace; he wasn't one for such casual touching. "You were about to say you agree, weren't you?"

She blushed, glancing down at her hands. "No! I would never say that about a queen. Besides, she so beautiful and I-"

"If the next words out of your mouth are 'I want to be just like her' I suggest you stop now," he warned. "Otherwise you're in for a lecture."

Victoria giggled again. "I never realized you were so funny."

"I wasn't trying to be," he told her, surprised that he had come off that way.

"Plato," a soft voice interrupted.

He turned around to see Tantomile sitting behind them, glancing around nervously, and most odd of all, nowhere near Coricopat.

"Tanto…where's Corico?" he asked, slipping easily into a more relaxed state now that one of his closer friends was nearby.

"I don't know. I woke up and he was gone…" she murmured. "Sorry…Victoria."

"Oh don't worry at all," Victoria said, giving her a quick smile. "But where did he go?"

"Victoria…maybe you should go. This is something Tanto and I need to deal with personally," Plato said quietly, saying the words Tantomile didn't dare utter.

"Oh, I see. I'll talk to you later than," she said, getting to her feet and, with a flick of her tail across his nose, walked away.

Plato didn't give the tail flick a second thought, his mind more on the mysterious disappearance of Coricopat. He knew very well why the tom had disappeared but it wasn't something he could go and tell Tantomile, it wasn't for her to know; not yet.

"Do you know where he is?" she asked quietly, shifting restlessly. "I can't find him at all and his mind is cut off. He usually never cuts his thoughts off from me but I-"

Plato placed a paw over the queen's mouth. She was quickly moving into a fit of hysteria without her twin and he did not want it to come to such a thing.

"Calm down, Tanto. I'm sure he's fine. Let's go look for him, alright."

As he let Tanto lead him around, faking to look as well, his mind wandered. Coricopat had a very good reason for hiding from his sister so much. He had unhealthy feelings for her and therefore, was taking as much time as he could to try and get rid of them; how Plato was not totally sure, he only knew he was entrusted with the duty of making sure his sister didn't find out.

"Tantomile?" Plato turned around to see Coricopat carefully padding towards them across the ground, coming in from the entrance to the junkyard, showing that he had returned from somewhere beyond their usual home.

"Corico!" Tantomile squealed, something uncharacteristic for her but seeing as how she had been beside herself with worry, it was not surprising.

"Sorry for worrying you," he apologized quietly, nuzzling the top of her head and giving Plato a thankful look before returning his attention to his sister.

Plato quickly took his leave, heading back to his pipe for some much needed rest; he wasn't used to so much action in one day. Unfortunately, it seemed he was not able to get that as Rum Tum Tugger had decided to make himself known.

"Plato, my man, how's it going?" he asked, suddenly appearing beside the splotched tom and draping an arm around his soldiers.

"Fine until it you got here," he replied dryly, rolling his eyes and glancing at the other tom as they continued walking.

"Oh so sour," Tugger said with a grin. "So, I heard through the grape vine you'll be taking little Victoria during the Jellicle Ball."

"Don't start," Plato muttered.

"Oh but I must! She is one of my fan girls so I need to make sure you take proper care of her," Tugger told him, forcing him to sit down on the pipe they had reached before sitting down in front of him.

"Whatever," Plato sighed, getting ready for a long and most likely boring lecture.

"Victoria needs special care because well, she's my fan girl and like all my fan girls, I love her. So you better not let this be something that doesn't mean anything. It's gotta be special for her. You know, Cassandra said she hated you-"

"Way to stab my self-esteem," Plato said, rolling his eyes.

"Her words, not mine. Anyways, she needs to feel wanted by you so I need to make sure you become friends with her. Now, since she's my fan girl, I know what she likes and what she doesn't like; I have to take care of them otherwise they'll leave me, you know what I'm saying?" Tugger continued.

"Sure," Plato agreed, just to make the other tom happy.

"Good. Now, she likes daisies. Don't know why but she loves them. So next time you go to see her, bring her a bouquet, alright?" Tugger asked.

"If you insist."

"Good man. I'll come talk to you some more later, just to make sure you're seducing her correctly," he told him.

"Alright, Tugger. Now would you leave me to my nap?" Plato asked impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah."

Plato sighed with relief when the tom left, lying down and placing his head in his paws. Finally, a much needed nap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my god this took forever. But here it is! I do not own CATS. **

Plato awoke when a gentle paw prodded his side and he opened a lazy eye to glare at the one who had disturbed his sleep. The glare faded when he saw it was Tumblebrutus, one of the few friends he had.

"What's with the glare?" the other tom questioned, a small smirk on his lips.

"Sorry, I've had a rather annoying day," Plato apologized, slowly getting to his feet and stretching.

"I'll say. I haven't seen you give anyone a glare like that in a long time," Tumble muttered. "So what happened? You shouldn't be upset now that the moon is coming out. The moon always makes things better."

"Yes, I know, Tumble," Plato murmured, glancing up at the Jellicle moon. "It's just Old Deuteronomy wants me to do the mating dance with Victoria and everyone is enjoying bugging me."

"Didn't you do that with-" Tumble started.

"Cassandra, yes. She's a-"

Tumble interrupted him with a laugh. "We all know your thoughts on Cassandra, Plato. You can stop there."

Plato looked down and kneaded the ground with his claws. "Sorry."

"It's fine. How is Coricopat?" Tumble asked, also knowing exactly what was going on with the male twin.

"I have no idea. We haven't talked but Tantomile was really worked up when she couldn't find him. He cut off their telepathic link and she freaked out," Plato told him. "I really hope he works this out soon or at least tells her what he feels because this is putting much unneeded stress on Tanto. And me…"

Tumble laughed again. "You need to just relax, Plato."

"I was but someone woke me up," Plato said, giving Tumble a teasing glare.

"Hey, if it were my choice I'd leave you be but Tugger wants us to rehearse our dance for the song he's singing at the Ball," Tumble told him.

"Tell Tugger he can shove it up-"

"Alright Plato. Any specific reason you're mad at him now?" Tumble sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"He was lecturing me about how I have to take good care of Victoria because she's his fan girl," Plato said.

"Well then…if that doesn't show his selfishness I don't know what will," Tumble muttered. "Anyways, I'll give him your message. I don't know how well he'll take it."

"Badly I hope."

Tumble grinned. "I'll let you know."

After Tumblebrutus padded away, Plato turned his gaze up to the moon and felt a sudden urge to dance come over him; the moon did that to him sometimes. He glanced around nervously and then slunk away to an even quieter area of the junkyard, right near the edge under the shady cover of trees so he wouldn't be disturbed. He hated it when people watched him dance, it was much easier to do so when the others were dancing around him.

After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and submit himself to the moon's will, springing into motion and letting the internal melody flowing through his head lead him. He always did this when he was dancing alone; let the moon wave her bright hands and control him like a puppet. It felt good to just let himself go and put someone else in control every once in awhile.

Like the times before, his mind lost track of time as he danced, paws flying over the ground as if nothing could stop him. The confidence only came from the fact that he was alone and no one else was watching and he knew that once the Ball came around, he would be able to hide under the cover of others and act as if he was not there; blending in with the crowd. It was his specialty after all.

It was then that he suddenly felt eyes on him. Abruptly, he came to a halt, the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up and with a hiss, he whirled around, ready to face the one who dared invade his privacy. He was surprised to see Victoria stepping away from him.

"Victoria, I apologize," he said quickly. "You scared me."

"I've never seen you dance alone before," she said quietly. "And when I saw that you were I wanted to come closer and watch. I'm sorry."

Plato softened a bit at her tone. She was only curious after all. "It's alright."

"Well…are you going to keep going?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No, I'm done," he told her. There was no way he was going to continue now. It just wouldn't be the same.

"Oh, sorry. It's my fault isn't it?"

He didn't see a sense in lying and just nodded. "I prefer to dance alone."

"But with Cassandra you danced so beautifully and just now-"

"I prefer to dance alone," he said. "I only dance in the spotlight when I have to."

Victoria frowned again, obviously upset. "I feel horrible making you do this."

Plato sighed. "It's not your fault. If the order comes from Deuteronomy I will agree happily. It's just something I don't feel comfortable doing."

"I still…feel bad."

"You're too kind for your own good," Plato muttered.

Victoria blushed and was about to speak when a familiar scent filled Plato's nose. It was Tantomile but he could smell the fear that radiated off of her as she bounded towards him and a cold sense of dread filled his stomach as she suddenly tackled him, weeping into his shoulder.

"Tanto? What is it?" he asked worriedly, glancing at Victoria.

Victoria was rooted to the spot, shocked at the crying Tantomile and she quickly knelt beside them, putting a reassuring paw on her back.

"Coricopat…" she started before breaking off into another sob.

"What happened with Coricopat?" Victoria asked softly, gently stroking Tantomile's back.

"Says he loves me!" Tantomile blurted.

Plato winced and held Tantomile closer even as Victoria reeled away, surprised at the words. "Perhaps it would be best if you leave," he suggested.

Victoria nodded and fled quickly, leaving Plato alone to comfort Tantomile. As she continued to weep, he spoke.

"What did you do after he said that?"

"I ran here," Tantomile answered, finally calming down enough and pulling away so she could look at him.

"Do you love him?"

Plato didn't know why he dared ask the question so fast but as he waited for Tantomile to answer he figured it was because he wanted this to be as quick and painless as possible for everyone involved. She hiccupped and hid her face in his chest, still not answering. The smell of Coricopat nearing them entered his nose and he saw the other cat hiding in the bushes a few feet away from them and Plato hoped desperately that Tanto couldn't smell him. Maybe he could work a confession out of her.

"I do love him," she mumbled.

Not sure if Corico had heard her, Plato said, "What was that?"

"I said I do love him, the same way he loves me," she said, pulling herself out of his chest and looking him in the eye. "But I'm so afraid because it's just so…wrong."

"It is not. Love is love Tanto," he told her with a small smile. He glanced over her head to look at Coricopat and saw that he was smiling happily.

Tanto followed his gaze, eyes widening fearfully when she saw him there. "Corico!"

"You two need to work this out on your own," Plato told her, standing up and slowly guiding her to her brother.

Coricopat hugged her tightly, his eyes speaking for him with his thanks. Plato just nodded before slipping off into the night.

(INSERT BREAK HERE)

"Plato, Tumblebrutus gave me your message."

Plato came to a halt and turned to fact Tugger who was stalking towards him. Looked like he wasn't going to be getting to his den anytime soon.

"And?" he asked, eager to get this conversation over with.

"Why do you hate me so much, man? What'd I ever do to you?" he demanded, coming to a halt in front of him. "Are you jealous or is it something else entirely?"

"You conceited ass. No I'm not jealous of you. I prefer to keep to myself," Plato growled.

"Whatever happened to you worshipping me?" Tugger asked curiously.

"That was awhile ago. I don't anymore. You repulse me with the way you break those poor queen's hearts," Plato hissed, backing away from him.

Tugger frowned. "I'm just teasing them. They know I'm never going to do anything serious with them. It's just fun and games. I thought you knew that."

"Yeah, I do. But some people don't," Plato grumbled, thinking back to Bombalurina at the last Ball. He had heard Demeter and Bombalurina talking and as much as he hated the red queen, she didn't deserve to be treated the way Tugger treated her. No one did. He embarrassed her way too much in front of the others.

"Like who?" Tugger demanded.

"You're too shallow to notice so why should I tell you?" Plato sighed. "Now I'm leaving; I need sleep."

"Not so fast. I also talked to Victoria," Tugger said, stopping him easily. "I've heard some interesting things."

Plato tensed, instantly readying himself for a fight. He knew most would not accept Tantomile and Coricopat and there was no way he was going to let Tugger say anything bad about them.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Coricopat and Tantomile?" he asked, raising a fine eyebrow.

"Are together. And?" His voice grew dangerous, allowing his fur along his spine to rise.

"Calm down," Tugger snapped, growing more serious than he usually tended to be. "I don't care. It's just…surprising. And the second thing is…she caught you dancing, hm? Care to tell me more?"

"I like to dance, we all do when under the influence of the Jellicle moon," Plato said as he began to relax a little more now that Coricopat and Tantomile were no longer the target, though he didn't like that it had shifted to him.

"Yeah but the way you do, or so she says."

Plato did _not_ like the smirk Tugger ha developed. "What are you talking about?"  
"I believer her exact words were: _He dances so beautifully when he doesn't think anyone is watching."_ The last bit was in a fake high pitched voice and Plato winced although he was surprised that Victoria had said something like that.

"I don't know what to say," he muttered.

"I'd like to see you dance sometime, when you let the moon take you over. Everyone always dances differently when they think no one is watching, hm?" he asked, raising his eyebrows once again.

"I'll make sure I'm alone next time," he said dryly. "Now I'm going to sleep and you aren't stopping me this time."

"Of course not," Tugger agreed, stepping aside. "Just make sure you bring her daisies."

(INSERT BREAK HERE)

The next morning he was awakened by Tantomile and Coricopat attempting to sneak in and curl up on either side of him like they usually did. It wasn't yet light out and he could only guess they had been talking things out the entire night and were just now trying to get some rest before the day started.

"Sorry for waking you, Plato," Tantomile said, knowing full well that they had awoken him. She always did know.

"It's fine," he said with a yawn, getting to his feet and stretching. "Are you two okay now?"

"Yep," she said cheerfully. "We'll talk later."

"Of course. See you later Corico."

With a polite nod, he moved out of the den and into the dawn. As usual, he started with a leisurely walk around the outskirts of the junkyard. It was something he had always done in the mornings, a way to gather his thoughts for the day. Presently, he was searching for daisies; he had no idea where they would possibly be seeing as how his knowledge of plant life was none at all.

"Plato, you're up early," a voice said, interrupting his thoughts.

Plato turned to see Munkustrap following behind him, no doubt on his morning patrol.

"I was awakened by Tantomile and Coricopat," he said with a shrug. "I didn't see a point in going back to sleep."

"I see. Are you looking for daisies?" he asked, a knowing smile on his lips.

"Tugger?" he assumed.

"Of course. He's my brother so he tells me everything," Munku said. "You might want to try the back entrance of the Junkyard though. If that doesn't work, you'll have to check outside of here."

"Thanks, Munkustrap."

"No problem."

They parted ways and Plato started for the back entrance of the junkyard, wondering briefly how Munkustrap knew where the flowers would be and eventually chalking it up to the fact that Munkustrap simple knew everything.

He was correct, of course, Plato wasn't even surprised that he was. He managed to pick quite a few of the white daisies before carrying them off to his den where Corico and Tanto still lay. Without disturbing them, he laid the white flowers down before darting out into the morning light and heading for his usual pipe, sprawling across it and watching with lazy eyes as everyone else began to rise and go about their business.

Once he saw Victoria and Jemima head for their usual spot, he got to his feet to retrieve his daises only to be stopped by Alonzo.

"Hello," Alonzo said brightly. "So I haven't been able to talk to you lately and I've heard-"

"Don't even start," Plato grumbled.

"Oh, but brother, it's so much fun to watch you squirm," Alonzo teased.

"Don't you have a whore to go entertain?" Plato sighed, referring to Alonzo's mate, Cassandra.

Alonzo wrinkled his nose. "Heavyside knows what she's doing right now. Most likely waking up with a tom she doesn't remember hooking up with."

"So why don't you ditch her?" Plato asked. "It's the smart thing to do."

"Have you ever-"

"Yes, I've slept with her, she's not that great."

Alonzo's eyes narrowed. "Whatever. I'll talk to you later. Let me know if you need help wooing Victoria."

"Why does everyone think I'm so hopeless at doing these things?" Plato grumbled.

Alonzo sighed and sat down, fixing him with a stare. "You come off as shy and unsocial able, Plato. You have this very…I don't know how to explain it…repelling feeling about you. It isn't until you try and calm people down that you become approachable."

"I never noticed," Plato said, tilting his head to the side.

"Whatever. I'll see you later."

And with that, the white and black tom disappeared. Plato headed off towards his den like he had originally planned to.


End file.
